By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Talladega, Ala. — With the top four CUP drivers firmly above the cut line and three of the next four already counting on Hail Mary’s, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney basically have to win the Yellawood 500. These drivers are on the spot. So, it’s Talladega this week or Martinsville next week, or the party is over. On the plus side of the line, Denny Hamlin won a historic 60th career race at LVMS. He is in the championship four. Larson is in good shape and Bell and Briscoe are looking pretty good. They just have to avoid the BIG ONE. That is never a sure thing.
Here is what the drivers said this week about the remaining three weeks of the season.
For Ryan Blaney, It’s win or else
DO YOU FEEL YOUR PREPARATION OR STRATEGY IS DIFFERENT NOW GOING INTO TALLADEGA BECAUSE OF YOUR POINTS SITUATION? “No, I don’t think so. It stinks where we are on points, but we’ve still got two races left and I don’t personally think we are in a must-win quite yet. At Talladega, you never know what can happen. You can go have a massive points day and be short of the win, but maybe a couple other guys don’t have as good of a points day and you go into Martinsville maybe in a spot where you could point your way in if you go have another good day short of winning. Our prep is really no different. It’s how do we try to be efficient through the stages and gather up all the stage points. That could change. Let’s say the first two stages don’t go our way and, alright, maybe now it’s a must-win type scenario. That might switch up a little bit, but as far as our prep this week, it’s kind of business as usual and try to go gather the most points we can and go try to figure out a way to win the race, so pretty similar.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Spire Motorsports as a whole has been strong on superspeedways this year. What have you learned since the season opener at Daytona that you can apply in Sunday’s race? “For me, I think I’ve gotten more comfortable with pushing for position during a superspeedway race. I had always been so worried about just making it to the end and staying out of trouble, and learned early this year that if I wanted a shot at a win that just wasn’t going to work. We had a good run at Talladega earlier this year and if all goes right, we should be able to knock out a top five.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
What do you think about Talladega?
“It’s crazy and very different than a traditional oval. We are doing 320 kilometers in a pack of 40 cars. It’s amazing how fast we are going, all squeezed together. Talladega is one of the most difficult races that we do. Hopefully this weekend we can prove that we are getting better at that (superspeedway racing) too and get a good result.”
SVG: There are only ovals left on the schedule this season. Is there a certain oval you like the best?
“I like the challenge of all of them. I like how different they all are. The intermediates, they look the same shape on paper, but when you go there, they all drive so differently. I really like the challenge of finding all the little integrities on the track and what makes the cars work.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
You have been able to run inside the top-10 consistently in recent races at Talladega. Does that make you optimistic about this weekend? “The racing at Talladega can get so crazy but it’s a lot of fun when you can stay out of trouble and have a good day. We’ve been able to do that quite a bit in the last few races there. It was an up-and-down day for our team in the spring race.
Daniel Suarez on this race. Do you like racing at Talladega?
“I love Talladega. At first, I really didn’t like superspeedway racing but the more I did it the more I started to enjoy it. We have been so close so many times on the superspeedway. One of these days we are going to win one of these races and I hope it is Sunday.”
